It is well known that the discharge of waste water such as that from industrial plants and residential homes is a serious environmental problem. Prior to discharge, waste water from industrial plants is processed in accordance with strict state and federal regulations. In recent years, additional state and federal guidelines have been enacted with regard to the discharge of waste water from non-commercial sites such as residential homes.
Generally, waste water from residential homes is discharged in one of two ways. Where town sewage lines are available, a homeowner may connect his/her home to the town sewage system whereby the raw waste water is discharged directly to the municipal treatment plant. If access to the town sewage system is not available, however, the homeowner is forced to utilize an on-site waste water treatment and/or discharge system. Conventional systems typically do not treat the waste water and merely discharge the waste water to a septic tank and leach field where the waste water is discharged into the soil.
Conventional septic systems have several drawbacks. Because leach fields are susceptible to clogging, these systems require periodic pumping and removal of the waste water from the septic tank which can be time consuming and expensive. Leach fields also have several drawbacks. The capability of septic systems is primarily limited by the size of the leach field necessary to adequately disburse the waste water into the soil. The required size of the leach field is directly related to the volume of discharged waster water, the quality of the waste water, and the water absorbent properties of the soil.
In addition to the above problems, new local and federal regulations have been enacted which are more stringent than previous laws. This presents a problem because many of the septic systems designed and installed to meet the prior environmental laws are in need of replacement. In many cases, the new local and federal regulation would preclude replacement of the old septic system with a comparable new septic system. As such, the homeowner is faced with upgrading the capacity and/or efficiency of the old septic system.
Any upgrade would not eliminate the problems identified heretofore. A temporary relief to one problem is to increase the size of the leach field. In many situations where small or constrained lots exist, increasing the size of the leach field is impossible.
One object of the present invention is to develop a septic system for treating waste water prior to discharge. When waste water is treated before entering the septic system it will eliminate the need for a septic tank and reduce the size requirements for the leach field.
Another object of the present is to develop a septic system for treating waste water that can be easily installed within an existing residential home and which is cost effective.